WEBVTT

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- [Narrator] Tesla ended
2022 in a rough spot.

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Interest in Tesla cars was still strong,

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but high prices scared
away potential customers

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and CEO Elon Musk sold off
billions of dollars of shares

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in the company, scaring investors

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and sending Tesla's share price tumbling.

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So Tesla kicked off
2023 by slashing prices

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on its most affordable models,

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the Model 3 and the Model Y.

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And, you know what,
those cuts did the trick.

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The company announced this
week that it set a new record

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for first quarter deliveries in 2023.

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According to the "Wall Street Journal,"

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Tesla delivered 422,875
vehicles to customers globally

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in the first quarter of this year.

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That's an increase of 36% over Q1 2022,

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but about 10,000 cars behind
what Wall Street expected

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from Tesla for the quarter.

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But it's not a total win for Tesla.

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The company may have sold more cars,

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but those discounts cut
into the automaker's profits

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for the first quarter.

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The Model 3 and Model Y made
up a whopping 97% of sales

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for the first quarter,
which totally explains why

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I literally see them on
every corner right now.

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According to Reuters,
Model S and Model X sales

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fell 38% over the same timeframe.

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Tesla is still aiming
to sell 1.8 million cars

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globally in 2023, but
it'll have to do that

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without the help of the
US federal tax credits.

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So it's gonna be
interesting to see if Tesla

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can keep up the pace with
these volume sellers.

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Who knows, maybe the Cybertruck
will finally swoop in

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and lighten the load.

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For more on this story and
everything else automotive,

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check out jalopnik.com.